The Sanitation Crisis

As 'World Toilet Day 2019' approaches, I thought it would be fitting to continue my series of blogs with an introduction to how a lack of adequate toilets is a fundamental part of the sanitation crisis. The website for World Toilet Day  describes these facilities not just as toilets, but as 'life-savers' and 'opportunity-makers' ( WTD ). Its purpose is to draw attention to those whose suffering is overlooked, those who lack in adequate sanitation and safe facilities. 673 million people still practise open defecation worldwide ( WTD ), toilets remain at the forefront of the sanitation crisis as arguably the biggest issue to tackle. We often take for granted our ceramic flush toilets that allow for convenient urination and defecation. For millions in the developing world, toilets do not constitute of anything more than a uncomplicated collection device such as a plastic bag informally known as the 'flying toilet'. Lusambili describes the process as '

" Water is a women's issue" (TED Talk: 2016 ) -  Welcome back to my blog concerning sanitation insecurity around the world.  This quote concisely sums up what I will subsequently discuss, the video inspired me to dedicate this blog solely to women's experience of sanitation.  It is useful to deconstruct these wider issues which is why this second blog continues by introducing the matter of sanitation and women. Caruso et al (2017)* propose a novel term for the absence of adequate sanitation in all capacities, 'sanitation insecurity'. The condensed version of their definition is 'i nsufficient and uncertain access to socio-cultural and social environments that respect and respond to the sanitation needs of individuals, and to adequate physical spaces and resources for independently, comfortably, safely, hygienically, and privately urinating, defecating, and managing menses'.  Whilst menstruation is experienced universally, 'girls in resource-poo

The 24-hour accessibility to a supply of water has come to be taken for granted in most of the Global North. Admittedly, I could not imagine my life without the water infrastructure in place which allows my household to have clean water in abundance. Having recently watched a documentary detailing the life of Bill Gates, successful entrepreneur turned philanthropist, my eyes were opened to the difficulties of tackling a problem as intricate and widespread as poor sanitation. As I develop my blog, I will provide a comprehensive account of this global sanitation crisis, exploring what perpetuates the problem, the solutions, and the gendered dimension to sanitation. A report by WHO reveals that 2 billion people still do not have the most basic of sanitation facilities such as toilets or latrines and there is an endless plethora of statistics available to show that unsafe water is at the core of this global sanitation crisis  ( WHO ). We often speak about worldwide disparities in w